janglepro
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2021
Posts: 10
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Post by janglepro on Jun 25, 2021 23:08:06 GMT -5
Hey all, I spent a few hours in the shop reworking the vibrator. Check out the video for the changes. link to video
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Jun 26, 2021 8:05:31 GMT -5
That is looking good! Compared to what you showed before, you are getting better motion in it and I could see some rocks on top heading to the bottom. My only comment is it seems that you are getting some whiplash in your container that is causing some rocks to go airborne. Based on jamesp’s comments, perhaps some more weight to slow down the amplitude of motion would help. Or some stronger bungees/bands or stiffer springs around the base to limit some of the movement of the platform. The lid on that is awesome! (That last comment is coming from someone who has recently had a couple dry-outs in the Lot-O with the recent hot weather.)
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,555
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Post by jamesp on Jun 26, 2021 8:14:40 GMT -5
Awesome stuff janglepro. A big change. The slow motion really tells a story. I see the flexing in the hopper at the end of the video and thought that if the hopper was rigid the whole vibration behavior would likely change substantially. Not saying for better or for worse, but changed. So many ways to alter vibration characteristics... Just different counterweight size/positioning - say heavier or lighter, or a counterweight further from the shaft rotation making a bigger orbit, or moving the counterweight closer/further from motor. All three can make big changes. Infinite ways to alter. the Vibrasonic was a great vibe to experiment with. It has a flat table with 2 threaded studs sticking up. This made it easy to bolt different hoppers to the table top. The only adjustment was increasing the counterbalance off-set and it was done easily. The Vibrasonic springs are heavy. Similar to valve springs in an engine head but not that robust/stiff. Attaching springs securely on the ends is tricky. The Vibrasonic has industrial grade spring retainers and the table top had 'cups' the spring fit into. The table simply lifted off when the o-ring belts were removed. The table was held down by the two O-ring belts. If stiff rubber o-rings are used the action was different than when using stretchy o-rings. So both springs and rubber o-rings served as the springs for the table top. I had to settle on a particular durometer o-ring, a specific grade of o-ring. Just saying, any little change can a big difference in the vibration. To speed up testing I used shiny glass marbles mixed with cheap 70 to 80 percent quartz pea gravel. And slurry of course. If the shiny marbles got bruised in 2 to 24 hours I had something wrong. In many cases it only took a couple of hours of run time to bruise the marbles. Instead of waiting days for a polish I would see if the existing 'polish' would get damaged. If the marbles maintained their polish all was good and it was likely the vibe would polish rocks.
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janglepro
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2021
Posts: 10
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Post by janglepro on Jun 28, 2021 18:50:36 GMT -5
So I ran my rocks through my vibratory with the grit pictured for a day or two each plus 45 minutes of burnishing with Ivory Soap and wound up with pretty amateur results. Some are ok but most don't have much luster...they seem close though. I'm not too upset as I know I don't know what I'm doing and this was just a test batch made mostly with rocks from the road. But I'm not sure what to change for next time. My Rock Results
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,352
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Post by quartz on Jun 28, 2021 22:05:55 GMT -5
You got it working, good. Is that a multiple speed fan motor, that would give options for fiddling and watching. I like the barrel cover.
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Jun 29, 2021 8:53:58 GMT -5
I’d say those rocks look pretty decent for a trial run. I may be mistaken, but most of those rocks look pretty coarse-grained and would probably not polish up that well in the best of circumstances. I’d like to see what your vibe would do with a batch of rocks that are known to polish up well.
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Post by Rockindad on Jun 29, 2021 9:02:02 GMT -5
Aside from any variables with the vibe itself, give that 1200AO more time to break down to a finer polish. We are currently comparing results of using a more traditional/multi-step approach in the vibe vs. just starting with 80AO and letting it run. The obsidian that was run with the 80AO has got a pretty nice polish but we kept it in for 4-5 days.
BTW, like the build!
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janglepro
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2021
Posts: 10
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Post by janglepro on Jun 29, 2021 10:50:51 GMT -5
You got it working, good. Is that a multiple speed fan motor, that would give options for fiddling and watching. I like the barrel cover. Thanks! Yes, it has a low speed. I have been running it on high.
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janglepro
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2021
Posts: 10
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Post by janglepro on Jun 29, 2021 10:52:07 GMT -5
I’d say those rocks look pretty decent for a trial run. I may be mistaken, but most of those rocks look pretty coarse-grained and would probably not polish up that well in the best of circumstances. I’d like to see what your vibe would do with a batch of rocks that are known to polish up well. Thanks for the encouragement Brian. I'll have to do some basic learning and figure out which rocks to gather and tumble.
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janglepro
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2021
Posts: 10
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Post by janglepro on Jun 29, 2021 10:53:27 GMT -5
Aside from any variables with the vibe itself, give that 1200AO more time to break down to a finer polish. We are currently comparing results of using a more traditional/multi-step approach in the vibe vs. just starting with 80AO and letting it run. The obsidian that was run with the 80AO has got a pretty nice polish but we kept it in for 4-5 days. BTW, like the build! Thanks Rockindad. I'll try that.
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